My current read is Mama Mia by Mia Freedman. She’s the former editor of Cosmopolitan, Cleo and Dolly, and writes the popular blog which I frequent, Mama Mia. So far, I’m really enjoying the book. I couldn’t help but nod at every few sentences when she wrote about her love for magazines, because I was that girl too. I still am.
I remembered my first magazine. I was 9 or10, and it was an educational one, Kuntum, which my dad bought for me. As time went on, my dad continued to buy more advanced educational magazines for me, like Dewan Pelajar and Dewan Siswa. My mum, on the other hand, introduced me to girly, fashion mags. She bought me my very first Teen magazine when she was in Singapore, and then Teenage. My educational mags were, sadly, cast aside as I pored over every beautifully glossy page of Teen. From then on, I’d beg my parents to buy me a copy whenever they were in Singapore for business trips.
At that time, Female was far too “old” for me. It wasn’t something I appreciated. “Aiyo so aunty lah the clothes“, I’d exclaim, when I browsed my mother’s Female mags. As time went on, my parents stopped going to Singapore, hence my supply of Teen and Teenage mags depleted. Still hungry for more glossy pages, I started buying the Malay version of Teen, Remaja. I sneakily told my dad that I wanted to improve my Malay, hence Remaja mags would be very good for me (even though I was looking at the pictures more than reading the words). After a few months, it just wasn’t the same. I wanted more.
1996. I remembered the first Cleo that hit the news stands. It had Nikki Taylor on the cover. It cost less than RM5. I was in glossy heaven. It was LOVE. From then on, I never missed a single Cleo. Much to the annoyance of my parents, I’d bug them to go to every news stand at the end of the month just to see if the next month’s issue was out. I started reading Marie Claire too when I was 17, but it was never quite the same as my Cleo. I dedicated a large portion of my shelves just to store my magazines. I had just about every issue till 2000, when I left for the UK.
Now international magazines in Malaysia are very expensive. After adding import tax and whatnots, a magazine like Seventeen would cost the same as a paperback. It just wasn’t worth the money. I loved reading mags like Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Allure and InStyle but could only do so, flipping the pages at a bookstore. So imagine the second level of heaven (if there was one), when I stepped onto UK soil, and entered WH Smith. I was no longer hungry for magazines, I was a girl obssessed. Ask my friends, they could vouch for me. I had so many magazines during that three years in the UK, it was crazy. I had to throw away stacks and bags of them when I left. It was heartbreaking.
Back in Malaysia, Cleo continued to be a monthly staple. However that “staple” started to include Female, Marie Claire, Elle and so on. When I was in Japan for a year, besides spending loads on international magazines, I bought Japanese magazines too. The latter’s a lot cheaper, the fashion and beauty section were extensive, and I didn’t even have to know Japanese to understand the context. Mooks (magazine-books) with freebies attached weren’t too popular back then, so I never bought any.
When I finally moved to Australia, things changed. In Malaysia, Cleo was intended for late teens to young working adults. The articles were relatable. Australian Cleo is completely different. It caters to teenagers and girls in their early twenties. Everything just screams teenybopper.
As much as I loved Cleo in Malaysia, I just couldn’t bring myself to enjoy Cleo here. When I stopped buying Cleo, I felt as though I was betraying my love. I guess as I got older, my interests have changed. There’s only so much of partying and loud clothes I could stomach. My favourite magazines are now InStyle and Marie Claire. InStyle for the classic, elegant (and bloody expensive) clothes, and Marie Claire for the insightful articles on current issues. I’ve also started buying home design magazines too, which I adore.
With my love for magazines, came the secret desire to want to work for one. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. However, thanks to technology, blogs came about, and it wasn’t long before I hopped onto it. This beauty blog is nowhere near a magazine, but you know what? It feels damn good to be known as the Editor, even of a tiny website such as this.
Whenever I’m back in Malaysia, I never hesitate to get a current issue of Cleo. After all, my darling, you’ll always be my first (well, close enough) love.
Sidenote: A question to my Singaporean readers – is Teen and/or Teenage magazines still around?
oh Tine, I guess we are the same! We love glossies! LOL!
my first magazine, was some chinese publication, called ๅฐๅนด, and i never miss an issue of it.
and when i left my hometown to further studies in KL, i left it back at home, but my youngest sister picked up my reading habits and she continues to buy them, so when I go home, I get to read! Win-win aye?
My first beauty/fashion mag was Seventeen, it was fun to read and stuff in it were much cheaper compared to those featured in Cleo, but it’s different now, it has become so boring (altho some issues are great) and the stuff they feature, expensive! Nine west shoes appearing in it? Or some really high end stuff which cost rm300 or more, I can’t remember, since when teens became this rich? Hm.
Cleo became a bore to read, but not as bad like Seventeen tho. I start reading a bit of Female and some others, but never really my staples. And I do share you bit of bugging your parents to go to each and every news stand to check on the new magazines! I do that too! To my sister, bf and dad! LOL.
Staples are Japanese and Taiwanese magazines which cost me a bomb each and every month! ๐ It was heartbreaking to throw or donate them away when I moved not too long ago because I love ’em!
Feels good to know there’s someone like me who loves her magazines, cuz most ppl just tell me i’m nuts T_T
oh my. i also bought the first issue of cleo and still continue reading them till now. my bookcase is so full of them, i had to move them into a cupboard! imagine my horror when hubby decided to spring clean the house and the stacks of magazine is the first to go! i was given a week ‘grace period’ to devour my magazines one last time. i had to tore pages of articles, make up tips n fashion spread. for now i only keep the current year publications.
i also read instyle and glamour, which i got for a very low price (RM3.50 compared to RM18.90) from a newstand. but they are past issues of course. but i’m okay with that. i can’t stomach vogue especially the september issue. so heavy and full of adverts.
hahah we are all magazine lovers no wonder we are now writing about beauty! My first love was YM magazine and Teen Magazines from the US and I have to save up because it costs an arm and leg for someone who doesn’t have allowance when I was in Highschool. I went to college and started to purchase Cosmopolitan Philippines and as the years passed, it all turned out to talk about sex so I subscribed to Marie Clare Philippines, then after years, it was discontinued..so I purchased Girlfriend Magazine and after a year..they stopped publication too (what’s wrong with the magazines i love? lol)Now I’m purchasing fashion /beauty magazines too called MEGA and METRO magazine, I guess we do change as we grow older
Lord above, I remember Teenage! Big sis was the magazine buyer of the house (still is, actually) and she used to buy that whenever we were in KL for school holidays. They had pretty good articles and fashion spreads. I still remember this lovely white babydoll summer dress… But they stopped bringing it in from Singapore after I started high school, wonder why.
I quite like the Australian Harper’s Bazaar and InStyle. The British Vogue and Harper’s aren’t too bad either though I only buy them if they have really good reads.
Oh yes they are still in Singapore – going strong it seems! I used to devour each issue when I was in secondary school – almost 10 years ago. Gosh!
i luv mags! i used to be so broke becoz of them! so i learnt my lesson and read them online! (try zinio, i get my ELLE, cosmo, mc there!) but i still occasionally go for the heavy magazines when they are on sales (i got my aus bazaar for $40 on subs!) and now they are teasing me with a combo cosmo+cleo at $99 (should i?!?!?!) i think its a great deal as i told myself to only get mag sub if its below $50/year!
now i cant wait to get my hands at numero nov issue that just came out with the gucci business card holder! i luv jap mooks! they are soooo generous! why oh why we dont have kinokuniya in melb!!!! at least borders which open till late satisfy my free reading hunger!
xoxo elle
ps: ELLE US October 2009 online edition: http://www.zinio.com/reader.jsp?issue=416097479&e=true
xoxo elle
Yes, I think Teens is still available. My company did an advertisement with them just last year. Not so sure about Teenage tho…
I love Shop Till You Drop, Instyle and Women’s Weekly when I’m down under!! But locally, I like Women’s Weekly (it’s almost the cheapest non-trashy magazine here) and those Taiwanese magazines. I try not to buy too often now cos my parents nag at me nonstop when I refuse to throw the past issues away!
I’ve been known to overindulge myself in all sorts of magazines as well – A habit my parents nor my husband is too excited about! Like you, I started at a young age with Kuntum as well and moved on to all the Dewans and then I started noticing the fashion mags. I have been a subscriber, but to date, I’d get at least 3-4 mags a month!!! Certain mags which I love, I’ll buy every month, like In Style and Marie Claire. I also read a few business mags out of interest. I guess it’s an extension of our reading hobbies and girly interests that brings forward this “obsession” with magazines! ๐
As I often run out of space to keep the mags, I often throw them away after a year of collection. I remembered my father’s wrath when I brought home four boxes full of magazines from Melbourne when I first went back to Malaysia after I completed my degree. Since then, I started maintaining an annual spring cleaning for my mags! hehe…It’s sad, and heart wrenching, but it’s gotta be done. Sigh….
i give the old mags to clinics for their waiting room reading materials ๐
I love Cleo too. But not every issue. I have started reading Women’s Weekly after it revamped and sold at a cheaper price as well.
Teens/Teenage is still available here. But I’ve never bought that. Cos I have a few copies of Seventeen, but it doesn’t really interests me as much. Maybe because I am long pass that stage. So I am not interested in something that says Teenage too. haha.
Yea I think teenage is still being sold in spore…
Gosh I didnt realise I have not been to your site for so long, eeps..sorry sorry hehehe let me say my first magazine I ever bought was (i dont think this magazine exist anymore) is GO magazine from Singapore and I remember the model was Fann Wong. I like Go magazine for the contents that it featured. My staple local magazines are Cleo and The Malaysian Women’s Weekly now adding Shape Magazine. I still prefer Cleo for the topics it features, the information on cosmetics and the how-tos, budget fashions and top end fashions ..the splurge and the splash and lots more ..if I want to know more about fashions & beauty I definitely check out on Cleo.
Hi Tine
Thanks for sharing this post I love glossies too my fav is Paris Vogue, which is a little more expensive then the Australian Vogue but the photography skill in there is amazing (I have a photographer husband) so we share this magazine ๐
I love love love Cleo! ๐
I had a collection since 1997 – every single issue untill my apt was drowning mags.. then I had to sell them away! *sobs*
I vacumm them every two weeks to keep them dust free hahaha.
I was a Teenage mag fan too! After all, we only had Kuntum, Dewan Siswa, Dewan Masyarakat back then LOL
I grew up on Cosmo, Marie Clare, Harper’s Bazaar and yup, Female and Her World because my Mum was a beautician and my aunts were stylish, single girls LOL
Later discovered Cleo, InStyle and was hooked on Elle (Singapore) for quite some time ๐
Now? I read them most of them for free at my hairdresser’s ๐
I am a mad magazine fiend too! I’m completely obsessed with beautiful editorials and layouts–my room wall is covered with fashion photography!
While I find local (Malaysian) mags sadly lacking sometimes in terms of quality articles and fashion spreads, and imported magazines way too expensive, I’ve found the perfect balance–back issues of mags like InStyle, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, Elle and even Nylon or Lucky when I’m feeling kiddish ๐
I pick them up from between RM5-RM9.90 at SunMag in Cineleisure Damansara.
For another read by someone in the industry, check out Jean Godfrey-June’s Free Gift With Purchase.
http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/jean-godfrey-june/free-gift-with-purchase/_/R-400000000000000034008